Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump yesterday vowed to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the world’s largest trade deal, on his first day in office and investigate “abuses” of work visa programmes that undercut American workers, as he outlined his policy plans for the first 100 days in the White House.

Trump, in his first video-message after being elected as the President of the US to succeed Barack Obama, described the TPP as a “potential disaster” for America and said he will quit the deal on the first day in office on January 20.

He also highlighted concrete steps that he will take to “drain the swamp” in Washington DC and put America first by focusing on the issues of trade, energy, regulation, national security, immigration and ethics reform.

“My agenda will be based on a simple core principle: putting America first. Whether it’s producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, in our great homeland: America creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” Trump said.

“As part of this plan, I’ve asked my transition team to develop a list of executive actions we can take on day one to restore our laws and bring back our jobs. It’s about time,” he said, listing out some of the key steps that he would take.

“On trade, I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the TPP, a potential disaster for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores,” Trump said.

Muslim women in US turn to self-defenceMany Muslim women across the United States have turned to self-defence classes amid a spike in ‘hijab-grab’ incidents following Republican Donald Trump’s electoral triumph, according to a media report. In the days following Trump’s election, at least three organisations tracked a notable spike in hate-crime incidents, The Washington Post reported. A number of Muslim women in cities across the country have been organising self-defence classes in response to the post-election rhetoric and apparent spike in hate crimes, the report said.

Trump’s media meet a ‘firing squad’Donald Trump scolded media big shots during an off-the-record Trump Tower sitdown on Monday, sources told The Post. “It was like a f***ing firing squad,” one source said. “The meeting was a total disaster. The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down.”

Trump backs out of meeting with NYTTrump backed out of a meeting he had called with The New York Times on Tuesday. Trump had asked for the meeting with Times executives, and also agreed to meet on the record with reporters and columnists. He said on Twitter that the “terms and conditions” were changed at the last minute, a claim The Times denied.